Plus band play new songs as British tour launches

8 hours ago

Arctic Monkeys kicked off their UK winter tour last night (December 8) with a show at Alexandra Palace that boasted big sing-a-longs, surprise guests and several new songs.

 

The London gig - their first British dates since their giant shows at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester in July - saw the band surprise the sold out crowd opening with new track 'Sandtrap'.

 

They then launched into a series of favourites including current single 'Teddy Picker' and Number One hit 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor', both of which inspired loud sing-a-longs early on.

 

"Are you having a good time or if you're not are you prepared to?" frontman Alex Turner asked the crowd, adding "because that's half the battle," as the band performed debut single 'Fake Tales Of San Francisco'.

 

The band then mixed tracks from their first two albums as they settled into one of their longest UK sets so far.

 

"We'd like to play a new one for you now, everyone's included," explained Turner as the band introduced 'Put Me In A Terror Pocket', before following it with 'When The Sun Goes Down'.

 

After playing 'A Certain Romance' and 'Fluorescent Adolescent' - the former moved from its usual set closer statues - the band again surprised fans with the unusually titled 'Da Frame 2R' which featured as a bonus track on the Japanese version of 'Favourite Worst Nightmare'.

 

Arctic Monkeys were then joined by The Rascals' frontman Miles Kane - introduced with a simple "here's Miles everyone" from Turner - for 'Fluorescent Adolescent' b-side 'Plastic Tramp'.

 

"Do you need a breather?" Turner asked the crowd after 'Still Take You Home'.

 

"Some people cheered for a breather so we'll play a slower one," he explained as the band played 'Do Me A Favour'.

 

Next up they launched into 'Brianstorm' b-side 'Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend', however, unlike at the last time they performed the track at Glastonbury, as surprise guest vocal Dizzee Rascal darted onstage mid-song his microphone was working properly. He delivered a stinging rap before diving head-first into the crowd.

 

"Thanks everyone, give it out to Dizzee Rascal everyone," urged Turner after the song, "that was very sharp."

 

Rounding off the set with 'Brianstorm', Arctic Monkeys returned to the stage with 'Teddy Picker' b-side and new track 'Nettles'.

 

With 'The View From The Afternoon' quickly following, the Sheffield four-piece asked the crowd to push their hands in the air with Turner declaring it "a good momement", before they capped the night off with 'If You Were There Beware'.

 

Arctic Monkeys played:

 

'Sandtrap'

'This House Is A Circus'

'Teddy Picker'

'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'

'Dancing Shoes'

'From The Ritz To The Rumble'

'Fake Tales Of San Francisco'

'Balaclava'

'Old Yellow Bricks'

'Put Me In A Terror Pocket'

'When The Sun Goes Down'

'D Is For Dangerous'

'A Certain Romance'

'Flourescent Adolescent'

'DA Frame 2R'

'Plastic Tramp'

'Still Take You Home'

'Do Me A Favour'

'Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend'

'Brianstorm'

'Nettles'

'View From The Afternoon'

'If You Were There Beware'

 

Earlier proceedings had been opened by rising newcomers The Rascals themselves.

 

With the venue quickly filling, the Wirral trio, playing only their second gig in the capital, clearly impressed the growing crowd.

 

Including new single 'Out Of Dreams' - which is released on Monday (December 10) - the band also showcased tracks being considered for their debut album they are currently recording including, 'I'll Give Sympathy', 'Bond Girl' and 'Freak Beat Phantom'.

 

The Horrors then played ahead of the Arctic Monkeys, and although they were booed by some sections of the crowd, they blitzed the Alexandra Palace with a series of garage rock blasts including 'Gloves' and 'Count In Fives'.

 

To find out where Arctic Monkeys' 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' finished in NME's albums of the year poll, get next week's issue on UK newsstands from December 12

 

Source: NME.com

 

Seems like a good show then! Lots of suprises in the set and a fully mic working Dizzee Rascal too! :lol:

 

I'm so glad The Horrors got booed too. Hate that band.

 

Is anyone else off? :o I know Nicky's going/gone, but that's it. :lol:

I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Wish I was going. :(

I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Wish I was going. :(

 

Me too. Makes it worse for me now, that I KNOW I could have afforded tickets easily, but through my own stupidity I was too late in ordering tickets! Oh well. Hopefully there'll be some new gigs in 2008! :D I have a feeling Alex and Miles Kane might go on tour with their new album too...

'Sandtrap'!!!

 

comments?

 

'Sandtrap'!!!

 

comments?

 

Sandtrap sounds AMAZING. Everyone is raving about it. I've only seen a low quality video of it, but i'll have a sniff around to see what I can find now. :P

One of the longest setlists ever! I have to see them when they do a gig in NYC! :heart:

OMG OMG OMG!

Just found some extra tickets on ticketmaster and after alot of fuss got some :D

I'm going to Manchester tomorrow!! :D

Have fun!

 

Be sure to let us know how it goes. :P I know some people that are "apparently" off tomorrow too. :lol:

UGH at this -_-

 

I should be there. The Setlist is amazing!

Some Reviews

 

Arctic Monkeys - Alexandra Palace

Thisislondon.co.uk

 

Arctic Monkeys don't go in much for hurrahs, so this last one was less a celebration than a businesslike rattle around their fast-growing catalogue. Closing another triumphant year with a handful of large-scale gigs in Aberdeen, Manchester and here, they can enter into a quiet 2008 confident that they have made being the best band in the country look so easy that it almost bores them.

 

This was an intimate soirée compared to summer headlining slots at Glaston-bury and the Old Trafford cricket ground. The Sheffield quartet thundered through their songs with brutality, barely pausing during an opening salvo of new song Sandtrap, This House is a Circus and Teddy Picker. Time on the road, including a huge American tour in September, has made them flawlessly tight, never stumbling as they ricocheted through the gear-changes of tracks such as Fake Tales of San Francisco.

 

What singer Alex Turner lacked as a compere he made up for with a biting vocal delivery that easily dominated the large room. Each song was dispatched with precision, and though the absence of any slower tracks meant the set lacked light and shade, the cumulative effect of so much speed and volume was thrilling.

 

The third album to come ought to be tough but this extraordinary band seem so unflappable that it's hard to imagine them being removed from their lofty perch for some considerable time.

 

 

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Arctic Monkeys

The Times

 

After almost a year on tour, it’s heartening that Arctic Monkeys haven’t run out of things to say to each other. Halfway though the first date of this short UK tour, Alex Turner played the final chord of D is for Dangerous, then turned his back on the throng to talk to the drummer, Matt Helders. Whatever the two were discussing, it must have been good, because the guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O’Malley wandered over to join in. After a minute of jovial banter, only the noise from the crowd appeared to remind them they were headlining their biggest London show to date.

 

Inherent in that moment is what makes Arctic Monkeys so cherishable and, once in a while, exasperating. D is for dangerous, but D is also for detached, which was what they sometimes seemed. At times that worked. There was a winning insouciance about the opening volley of songs – Sandtrap, This House is a Circus and Teddy Picker – that they fired off without a pause in between. The sense of accumulated momentum found a natural sense of release with I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.

 

As is his wont, Turner, dressed in a V-neck pullover, gazed on quizzically. As has always been their wont, his fans didn’t mind. Once Turner’s lyrics are out there, the shows are primarily an opportunity for people proudly to sing them back to him – and on an improbably excellent white reggae treatment of A Certain Romance, they needed scant encouragement.

 

From the reaction it sparked, it seemed incredible that the speedballing surf-rock of Brianstorm polarised people when it was released in advance of the Favourite Worst Nightmare album this year. Just as he did on the flipside of Brianstorm, Dizzee Rascal bounded on to sprinkle some East London patter on to Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend – though without an introduction, several fans turned to each other, apparently unsure of whom they were watching.

 

Amid it all, the singer frequently inquired if everyone was having a good time. At one point, he even saw fit to add: “Are you prepared to have a good time? Because that’s half the battle.” Given that his fans were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, it was, as much as anything, as if he had been reminding himself.

 

Tour continues December 11 and December 12, Manchester Central; December 14 and 15, Aberdeen Exhibition Centre

 

 

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Arctic Monkeys, Alexandra Palace, London

Published: 11 December 2007 - The Independant

 

The Arctic Monkeys are used to cavernous, remote venues such as Alexandra Palace now. Their vertiginous early success has settled down, progressing smoothly through this year's good-enough second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare. Tonight proves they have quietly and professionally sidestepped the hype to become an accomplished, unpredictable musical force.

 

"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" no longer dominates the set as it once did, but remains potent. The opening riff resembles a lift shooting to the top floor, kept there by guitars chopped at with comical speed. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, and the songs played from it here, sound more certainly classic and more obviously separate from their imitators' slices of life.

 

Alex Turner is a poetic observer of the mundane, keeping a sympathetic distance from it. "A Certain Romance" strips Sheffield's nightlife of any such thing, while wishing for it with equal power. "When the Sun Goes Down" sees Turner sing its acid reportage of a "scummy man" and the prostitutes he pimps with fierce clarity. Its rhythm drives urgently forward, only to drop out, leaving this angry song's oddly turned phrases hanging suspended, a cappella, in the air.

 

"Romance" recurs in Turner's lexicon, expressed in part by the delicate, imaginative sounds with which his band pull clear of their peers: the trebly ripples of guitar on "Teddy Picker", or the unexpected shapes "Still Take You Home" is pulled into, before ending as a hardcore thrash. "Plastic Tramp", one of several B-sides and new songs, verges on the psychedelic, punctuated by choked feedback. Even "Fluorescent Adolescent", a warm, sexy pop song, slows to languidly reflective moments.

 

Turner is a far more relaxed front man now, but remains undemonstrative, contenting himself with a few dry lines to the crowd. After his lyrics, the Monkeys' trump card is a supple rhythm section. They hint at a lost pre-rock world of Telstar riffs and rockabilly twangs. Yet they can be heavy enough to inspire a massive mosh-pit.

 

But his band have kept their balance, staying true to their backgrounds, ambitious only for their music. Two years after their explosive arrival, they have secured their future.

Edited December 11, 200717 yr by Jonny

:)

They didnt do 'Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend' :(:(

They didnt do 'Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend' :(:(

 

Were you at the 2nd London date? :P

No, Manchester Central...

No, Manchester Central...

 

Ohhhhh

 

I'm not suprised they didn't play there tbh. :( Cos Dizzee's stationed in London and all that.

 

Was the setlist much different to the one at London?

Nah, it was identical just without TGYLYNF :(

Nah, it was identical just without TGYLYNF :(

 

Did you get the feeling that ending with If You Were There, Beware wasn't the right choice? :lol: I like the song, but i'm not so sure it's a set-closer. Not sure why they didn't go with A Certain Romance...:\

^cause it good to make some changes in their set.

 

"If You Were There, Beware " is an amazing track.the whole FWN is in that song.the heavy/loud guitars , the melody , the post new wave parts , everything.

 

btw , all you lucky lucky people...i m a big fan (dont tell me) but i didnt have the chance so far the see that band live :(

^cause it good to make some changes in their set.

 

"If You Were There, Beware " is an amazing track.the whole FWN is in that song.the heavy/loud guitars , the melody , the post new wave parts , everything.

 

btw , all you lucky lucky people...i m a big fan (dont tell me) but i didnt have the chance so far the see that band live :(

 

Maybe they'll do a European tour sometime? :P

 

Or you should come to one of their gigs in England and make a holiday of it! :lol: :w00t:

Arctic Monkeys Surprise

Last show of '07 set for Manchester

15 Dec 2007

Arctic Monkeys have announced a surprise end of year show.

 

Their final show of 2007 is on Monday at the Manchester Apollo, tickets went on sale at midday today (Saturday).

 

Tickets are not available via phone lines or internet, if you want to catch the Monkey's final show of the year you have to get to Sheffield City Box Office or the Manchester G-Mex Box Office.

 

Tickets are limited to two per person and the performance will be filmed by Warp Films for a DVD release next year.